Honey bees play an important role in the earth's ecosystem. According to one source, bees pollinate 15 to 30% of all food eaten by United States consumers, with an economic benefit estimated as high as $117 billion annually. As to the honey that bees produce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicated that in 2002, more than $130 million of raw honey produced in the United States.
In the practice of beekeeping, bees are fed with pre-mixed sugar water, which is placed in a container, such as a 55-gallon drum, which can be placed a certain distance, typically around 24 meters (80 ft.) from managed beehives. Estimating feed rate (consumption) is challenging and remote site visits can routinely reveal anything from hardly any drop in the level of sugar water to a completely empty drum for some unknown time. One skilled in the art will appreciate that having the ability to check, for example and without limitation, the sugar water drum level remotely within a matter of seconds would not only save time by not having to drive to a remote site but also would save automobile fuel, thus minimizing honey manufacturing costs. Furthermore, beehives need to be kept dark and temperature-controlled. If any light level other than zero is present inside a beehive, it means that the hive has been breached by the outside—usually either by an animal looking for food or by vandals. Therefore, it would also be advantageous to remotely verify continued darkness inside a hive to quickly address the event of a beehive breach.